Welcome to Castleton Historical Society’s website

Future Events

Next Meeting
The programme of meetings for 2026 will now available to view here.
At our next meeting on March 19, there will be four short presentations by friends and members of CHS on a fascinating range of subjects as shown below.

John Stannard
So what exactly is HISTORY?

Reflections on the WHO (not the band), WHAT, WHERE, WHY and HOW of history with a nod in the general direction of When!

Ian Holmes: ‘The Hope Air Crash 15th February 1943’

… the story behind the plane crash 83 years ago  which is commemorated by the plaque and maple tree on Castleton Road opposite Warehouse Lane.

Amanda Grego: Medieval ‘doodles’ within the Beauchief Abbey Cartulary
The Beauchief Abbey Cartulary documents the privileges acquired by the Canons of the Premonstratensian Order from 1176 to the compilation of the manuscript in 1400.

As such provides a rich insight into how the Abbey continued to hold significance within the local community for over 350 years.

Natalie Ward: A Peak District Archaeological Framework
Natalie will explain the background to an exciting new project, encouraging communities to ask their own research questions about the archaeology of the Peak District, based upon what might interest or puzzle them.

With the help of CHS members, archaeology volunteers and anyone else who might be interested, these questions will then help to direct the field research of the future. Some of our local archaeology leaders including Colin Merrony and Tim Cockrell will be involved.

Castleton Historical Society holds regular meetings on the third Thursday of each month, except for August and December. Our meetings are held at the Peveril Centre, Methodist Church on Buxton Road in Castleton and our programme of talks can be viewed here. Visitors are always welcome to attend for a small charge (£3) which includes hot drinks and biscuits.

  • The Stones
  • Wrays Store
  • Waterside
  • Sydgate
  • Hancocks Stores, Cross St.

Closure of Castleton Museum
With great sadness, CHS announces the closure of Castleton Museum, which has been housed within Castleton Visitor Centre for over 20 years.  The space occupied by the Museum’s displays will become available for commercial use next year. A small area will be reserved for wall-mounted displays.  Some of the archive of documents, photographs and artefacts will continue to be stored on site for establishing and renewing the new display area but much of the collection will be dispersed.
More details of this development can be seen here.

The Village of Castleton
Castleton developed as a settlement in the 12th century when the Norman fortress of Peveril Castle was built there. Articles on the history of Castleton can be found here and some photos from our collection are shown below.

Castleton Historical Society
Castleton Historical Society is a voluntary group who promote the history of the Village with a programme of talks, events, displays and local history research. CHS is responsible for establishing and continuing to curate an archive of documents, photographs and artefacts relating to the history of Castleton.

In recent years, the Society has participated in a number of ongoing archaeological digs. More information about our meetings, research and archaeological activities, publications and events are described on this website. New members are always welcome.